lion copies per month in 106 languages (Martin 79).
In 1884, Russell incorporated "Zion's Watchtower Tract Society" in Pittsburgh. In 1886, it published the first of seven books (Russell wrote six by himself.), now entitled Studies in the Scriptures and originally entitled The Millennial Dawn (Martin 17). From these beginnings, Russell gained many followers and continued teaching and preaching until his death on October 31, 1916, aboard a trans-continental train in Texas.
After Russell's death, leadership duties were taken over by Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Under Rutherford, the official name "Jehovah's Witnesses" was taken at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, to differentiate between the true followers of Russell and other splinter groups (Martin and Russell 11).
Following Rutherford's death in 1942, Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, and Milton Hanschel have assumed the leadership role, respectively. Through these leaders, Jehovah's Witnesses has grown to a total membership of 5,413,769, as of the end of 1996 (Martin 93). Now that the history of Charles Taze Russell and Jehovah's Witnesses has been covered, it is now time to move on to a comparison of basic Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs to accepted Christian biblical doctrine.
There are many tenets to the Jehovah's Witness faith that are totally against accepted Christian biblical doctrine. The Jehovah's Witness religious group has made an attempt to separate themselves from the name Charles Russell in the years following his death. Even though the following doctrines mentioned are listed as Jehovah's Witness beliefs, a careful comparison between them and the writings of Charles Russell would show a clear connection. The following are just a few of the Jehovah's Witnesses' false doctrines followed up with biblical refutation. The doctrines mentioned are taken directly fr...